NFL

[nelly the elephant]

So...
Giants @ Rams in Twickenham.
Who's in?

Bump........... individual game tickets going on sale tomorrow morning.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/nfl

[Armchair]

Delighted for Denver and especially Manning, hope he can go on and win it now. How bad were Arizona? Schocking 1st half, fighting on the side lines etc but how exciting is Newton? Very arrogant and a pure showman but can seemingly do anything he wants. Battle maybe Panthers offensive line which is very good and Denver's Defense which needs to be as aggressive as they were with Brady.

[jezzer]

Delighted for Denver and especially Manning, hope he can go on and win it now. How bad were Arizona? Schocking 1st half, fighting on the side lines etc but how exciting is Newton? Very arrogant and a pure showman but can seemingly do anything he wants. Battle maybe Panthers offensive line which is very good and Denver's Defense which needs to be as aggressive as they were with Brady.

Denver's D were outstanding against the Pats. But the Brady offense is a little more one-dimensional than the Panthers is. It's very hard to defend Brady and his dink&dunk gameplan to the shifty WRs pass-catching RBs and Gronk. BUt you can plan for it pretty well and if your D matches up against them (heavy QB pressure to get Brady off his rhythm, mobile LBs to stop Gronk and shifty CBs to stick on shift WRs), then you're in good shape.

Panthers though are a bit more flexible and less predictable from game to game. I still rate the Denver D good enough to slow Carolina down, but they'll have to adjust on the fly. I see the Panthers D really putting the squeeze on Manning's offense though. Providing Carolina stay composed in the rarified air of SB pressure, I would have them as 4 or 5 point favourites.

[rosscarrick]

Delighted for Denver and especially Manning, hope he can go on and win it now. How bad were Arizona? Schocking 1st half, fighting on the side lines etc but how exciting is Newton? Very arrogant and a pure showman but can seemingly do anything he wants. Battle maybe Panthers offensive line which is very good and Denver's Defense which needs to be as aggressive as they were with Brady.

Denver's D were outstanding against the Pats. But the Brady offense is a little more one-dimensional than the Panthers is. It's very hard to defend Brady and his dink&dunk gameplan to the shifty WRs pass-catching RBs and Gronk. BUt you can plan for it pretty well and if your D matches up against them (heavy QB pressure to get Brady off his rhythm, mobile LBs to stop Gronk and shifty CBs to stick on shift WRs), then you're in good shape.

Panthers though are a bit more flexible and less predictable from game to game. I still rate the Denver D good enough to slow Carolina down, but they'll have to adjust on the fly. I see the Panthers D really putting the squeeze on Manning's offense though. Providing Carolina stay composed in the rarified air of SB pressure, I would have them as 4 or 5 point favourites.

Yeah Jezzer, sounds about right. I kinda hope Manning does well (better than last SB appearance) mainly becuse it doesnt sit well with me that Eli has two rings and Payton only one.

[Avenger]

Panthers in a blow out.

[John23]

Panthers in a blow out.

Panthers by 25

[John23]

Panthers in a blow out.

Panthers by 25

Oops!!

[Avenger]

Shows what I know.

Only watched first half. Denver defence dominated and looking at the offensive stats shows that that continued in second half.

[nelly the elephant]

Stunned by that result.....I think the Panthers will be around for a while though so may get another bite at it.

[Avenger]

Rams trade up for No. 1 draft pick

New city... new QB I guess. Can't see them trade up for any other position.

[nelly the elephant]

Rams trade up for No. 1 draft pick

New city... new QB I guess. Can't see them trade up for any other position.

Definitely a QB alright.......... you guys have given up an awful lot. Is the talent that good? I haven't heard the players in this year's QB class being spoken about in the same way as Winston & Mariota last year.

In other news the full schedule is being announced later today(overnight here)..........

[Avenger]

Definitely a QB alright.......... you guys have given up an awful lot. Is the talent that good? I haven't heard the players in this year's QB class being spoken about in the same way as Winston & Mariota last year.

I don't follow college ball but this Wentz guy is favourite.
You don't move up 14 spots for a tackle or a corner. It's gonna be a QB.
They've already burned a no 1 on a QB in recent past and he was a complete bust.
They have to get a QB though. No choice. If they land a decent one it'll make more space for Gurnley.

[jezzer]

Definitely a QB alright.......... you guys have given up an awful lot. Is the talent that good? I haven't heard the players in this year's QB class being spoken about in the same way as Winston & Mariota last year.

I don't follow college ball but this Wentz guy is favourite.
You don't move up 14 spots for a tackle or a corner. It's gonna be a QB.
They've already burned a no 1 on a QB in recent past and he was a complete bust.
They have to get a QB though. No choice. If they land a decent one it'll make more space for Gurnley.

Eagles have now traded up with the Browns to #2. Definitely two QBs to go in the first 2 picks. With the Rams moving to LA, this is a bit of a splash move to get new fans excited, but the cost of the move was two firsts, two seconds and two thirds. That's exorbitant in a generally low quality draft. The last low quality draft was 2013. Miami traded up to spot #3 for a single second round pick. (They picked a player who turned out to be a disaster, but the value was incredible). Kudos to the Titans and Browns for getting much better value.

I haven't studied the QBs this year much, but there's a fair bit of hype around Wentz in particular. Some people calling him the next Manning. Chances are he'll be more Archie than Payton.

There's really no consensus stud. People rave about the CB/S Ramsey, I think the hype is excessive - maybe better athlete than football player, certainly at cornerback. Myles Jack looks like a stud, but he's injured. The tackles Tunsil and Stanley have some question marks (Tunsil - lack of application, Stanley - maxed out). Vernon Hargreaves looks a top quality CB but he's very short and there are a lot of big receivers out there. Buckner looks like he'll be a starter. Joey Bosa is maybe the one guy who you could see being "elite". Zeke Elliott also, but a lot of his college production was helped by the read option scheme and RBs rarely justify high first-round picks (Gurley was an exception imo - I loved him last year) .

[Avenger]

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Jared Goff became the first pick of the Los Angeles Rams 2.0.

Two weeks after the Rams' bold move to acquire the 2016 NFL draft's No. 1 pick from the Tennessee Titans, they selected the Cal product product Thursday night in hopes he'll solve the franchise's long-standing problems under center.

Goff is the second quarterback the Rams have selected first overall in the past six years but steps into a much better situation than Sam Bradford did in 2010. Coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead have built a near-ideal framework to plug a rookie quarterback into.

The team's 2015 first rounder, tailback Todd Gurley, won offensive rookie of the year honors and looks like he'll be the team's offensive engine until Goff proves ready to assume more than a game manager-type role. The Rams have also drafted seven offensive linemen in their previous two drafts and are excited about the strides their blocking has made in recent seasons. Finally, the team's talent-laden defense has the potential to be one of the league's best if paired with an offense that can prove even average (the Rams have not ranked better than 23rd offensively in the past nine seasons).

Though expectations will surely dictate that Goff is the starter for the opener and again in Week 2, when the Rams play their first regular-season home game in L.A. since 1994, veteran passer Case Keenum remains on the roster to serve as a bridge to the rookie if need be. Keenum won three of his five starts in 2015 and has consistently been praised by Fisher and Snead throughout the offseason.

[ronk]

Aaron Hernandez, RIP.

[nelly the elephant]

Full schedule release for coming season tonight (1am our time). I hope to get another trip in to Cleveland this year, dates permitting.

[John23]

Aaron Hernandez, RIP.

Alas Aaron was a misguided soul. Had it all. Just having signed a $40 million contract he had the world at his feet. But instead of being a pro footballer he chose to be a hood. Can't help but wonder how many more Super Bowls the Patriots would have won if Hernandez was another weapon in their offensive arsenal.

[TheBear]

Hernandez' brain to be donated for CTE tests. It'll be interesting to see what comes of this, especially as he had a relatively short career. The whole horrible mess that was the last few years of his life could come to some good, if it can help identify early signs of CTE.

[nelly the elephant]

Anyone any trips planned to London(or further afield) this season?

[El Diablo]

Highlights of the crazy game last week between the KC Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders:
http://www.chiefs.com/media-center/vide ... 0675fee304
Crazy finish. The Chiefs had so many chances in the last few minutes to wrap it up. Tough defeat.